THIRTY-SIX by Jo Clifford & Bayley Turner (paperback)

Thirty-Six

by Jo Clifford & Bayley Turner

A fierce, funny and tender solo show about survival, transition, grief, chosen family and the radical possibility of growing older.

On the eve of her thirty-fifth birthday, Bayley is forced to confront a myth that has haunted trans women: the idea that they may not live beyond thirty-five.

As the milestone approaches, she looks back at the stories she has inherited, the losses she has carried, and the people who have helped her imagine a future. What does it mean to grow older when the world has repeatedly told you that you might not get the chance? How do you celebrate a birthday that feels like both a triumph and a reckoning?

Thirty-Six is a bold and deeply human solo show about mortality, survival and becoming. Moving between humour, memory, anger and tenderness, the play explores the pressures placed on trans lives while refusing to let fear have the final word.

At once personal and political, intimate and expansive, Thirty-Six is a celebration of chosen family, queer resilience and the power of imagining yourself into the future.

Thirty-Six is particularly suited to:

• Drama and performance students exploring autobiographical theatre, solo performance and queer dramaturgy
• Actors looking for a vivid contemporary solo text
• Theatre companies interested in LGBTQ+ stories, trans-led work and intimate touring productions
• Readers and audiences drawn to personal, urgent and formally engaging new writing

For students and performers

With its direct address, emotional range and sharply drawn theatrical voice, Thirty-Six offers rich material for performance study. The play invites discussion around how personal testimony can become theatre, how humour and grief can sit side by side on stage, and how solo performance can hold both individual experience and wider political resonance.

It is an excellent text for students exploring contemporary LGBTQ+ theatre, devised or collaborative writing processes, character voice, audience relationship and the ethics of autobiographical performance.

CAST: 1 actor
DURATION: 60 minutes